Westerners find it incomprehensible that Taoism doesn’t call for specific rituals, ceremonies or observances. It doesn’t even call for a specific lifestyle or external sign. Furthermore, there is no uniform to wear and no church to visit on Sundays. However, Taoist practitioners can easily identify each other by their behaviour. When they see how others…

When it comes to investing, people always make the same mistakes. In the last twenty centuries, we can see the patterns of error and delusion emerge once and again. There is little change except in the fashions of the day. In Ancient Rome, aristocrats would speculate in agriculture, mining, real estate, and shipping ventures. In…

I find it puzzling that people often refer to business software as “productivity apps.” They infer that the mere usage of those software programs will make our tasks faster, less cumbersome and more profitable. Experience has taught us that the opposite is the case. After putting lots of effort into learning to use the software,…

In Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu formulates one of the most cryptic principles of Taoism. He enunciates that, in our pursuit of wisdom, each day we should add something and let go of something. In terms of harmony and flow, Lao-Tzu is recommending us to constantly remove obstacles (“let go of something”)…

Lao-Tzu made a straightforward recommendation to people who want to achieve flow in their work, relationships and other areas of their lives. Chapter 22 of the Tao Te Ching warns us against wasting time with debates, grandiloquent declarations, and narrow ambitions. The key to achieving flow is to avoid conflicts, disruptions, and obstacles. The Taoist…

I have never known anyone who has improved his life by sitting on the ground for hours, lighting candles, chanting some mantras, and engaging in so-called meditation. In saying that, I do not mean that I am against meditating. I am just saying that we should do it effectively, so that we can draw real…

While Western culture prompts us to do our utmost, achieve the maximum, and rise the highest, Taoism preaches lightness as a lifestyle. Chapter 9 of the Tao Te Ching admonishes those who do too much because, more often than not, they will spend more resources than necessary and end up incurring losses. Lao-Tzu warns us…